Ask HN: I'm 17. Should I drop school for YC S12?
I don't think I would drop it, because I ultimately intend to go in computer science at Stanford. Therefore, I would have to leave the Bay Area at the end of August in order to move back in Quebec and stay there during the year and come back in the summer when I'm finish my program.
I would still have time to work on my startup during the year, but at a much lower pace (2-3 hours each night and 8-12 hours on weekends). The other guy on my team (he's 17 too) is in a much less intensive program then me and he could continue working almost full-time on the startup.
Yet, if you guys tell me that I would absolutely need to continue working full-time on my startup, I will consider dropping school more seriously. It would be hard for me, but if it's really necessary I could do it. The thing is, the program I'm currently in, International Baccalaureate, is a program that I must complete in two years. The special thing about this program is that we are the same group for every class (we started 40 now we're 28). If I drop/fail a course, I'm out. And I then need to go in regular science. If ever I were to be selected for YC, the choice would be quite hard as I said, because I really enjoy my program, I'm fond of the other students and I appreciate the teachers a lot. And I also fear that I won't go back to school if I enter the startup world.
At least, I'd like to finish my program and then maybe take a break from school to focus on my startup. My program requires a lot of effort, it's considerably more challenging than regular science, and I just don't see myself dropping it when I'll be halfway through it, but still there's a lot of chance I would - it's 50/50. I'm constantly debating in my head whether I should drop or stay, but I guess I'll wait to see if I'm selected for YC to make a final decision. Ultimately, I feel I would drop my program, because YC is such an amazing opportunity and also because I have a very good co-founder who is a long-time friend of mine. He would definitely succeed in convincing me :P
Moreover, I'm the only one writing code. My co-founder (who's currently studying in Business Management) will be working on the marketing (posting on the blog, making videos showcasing the app, posters in schools and other places, talking with other companies so that they use our app, etc.) I also have a graphic designer that will not be directly involve in the startup but that will do my logo and help me design icons, textures, etc.
Without even knowing anything about my idea (I can tell you though that even if I'm the only technical founder, it's not an overwhelmingly complex app and I am confident that I could manage the coding alone. All features would get implemented during the summer. During the year, I would only make little changes to the user interface and update the content of the app, but I probably won’t implement radically new features, that is if I choose to stay in school. The goal during the year would be to get as much users as possible and that’s exactly what my co-founder would be working on full-time. Complex new features would get implemented in the following summer.), because really I don't want to be chosen for my idea but rather for my team (I've got this interesting idea that I want to work on, and I like it because I would actually use the app, and actually, I’ve got a bunch of startup ideas (I’m the kind of guy that always has tons of ambitious projects going on and new ideas in mind: I want to code apps, make feature films and crazy edits, learn new monologues by heart, run marathons, travel around the world and learn new things!), but this particular one is not too complex to implement, yet if it turns out that I choose to do a completely different project, then so be it! Anyway, I don’t think the idea I apply with matters that much (but it ought to be good obviously), because anybody could apply to YC with a similar idea and develop a similar app. But would they really be as much passionate as us about the app and as much caring about the users, would they achieve to convince companies of using it, would they convince people of using it? I know we would. My point is that I’m expecting to be chosen a lot more because of my team than because of my idea. (If you're interested to know what my app is though, email me (frabrunelle@gmail.com) or skype with me (francisbrunelle)). I want to build useful products and it thrills me that with the internet millions of people could be using them! But what thrills me even more is that if ever I do YC, I would be hanging around with dozens of other developers that are in the same situation as me. I want to discuss and debate about ideas with those developers. It would be an insanely great and enjoyable experience. And that’s exactly why I want to do YC: for the experience.), do you think I have any chance of getting selected? Or should I wait for next summer, when I will have finish my program? The thing though is that I will still continue to go to school (Stanford, MIT, McGill or somewhere), so again I will have the same problem as the one I have right now.
I truly enjoy school but the real reason I want to go in c.s. at Stanford is to meet other c.s. students and start a startup with them. I'm also interested in studying in theatre, so I'm really not dropping school soon. But I don't want to wait after university to finally apply for YC, I feel ready now. The reason I want to go through YC is to meet interesting people, discuss ideas and because I'm sure it would be a tremendous experience. If I don't get chosen, I will still develop my app over the summer, but I just think YC is an outstanding opportunity and that I ought to at least submit an application. I will continue submitting applications every summer until I'm chosen.
P.S. As a developer, I'm not that skilled, but I always manage to figure things out by myself and find a way to do what I want. If I'm stuck, I don't easily give up. Nevertheless, I'm more of an idea guy. I'm currently following tutorials from http://www.raywenderlich.com/store since December in order to get more familiar with the iOS 5 SDK. When I'll finish them, I'll look at the Parse SDK (http://parse.com) and then at the Facebook iOS SDK (https://developers.facebook.com/). I will then code an app similar to FML but it will be called "You know you're in IB when...", IB being the program I'm currently in. I will integrate the Parse SDK and the Facebook iOS SDK in this app. It's a simple app that I want to do for testing purposes and also because I know that my other classmates would actually use it and that fact motivates me a lot. I will then start working on the real app that I want to do for my startup. My goal is to have a working app with bare minimum features for the end of May so that I have something to show if ever I move to the Bay Area. I'm working toward this goal 2-3 hours everyday and 8-12 hours on weekends.